What you know as the Cardiac Diet soup goes by other aliases. Some people know it as the soup used in the Sacred Heart Diet -- or the Mayo Clinic Diet, the Spokane Heart Diet or Cleveland Clinic Diet. As fad diets go, the Cardiac Diet soup is the stuff urban legends are made of. Purportedly, you can lose more than a pound a day eating as much of the soup as you like. There are many different recipes in circulation, and none are claimed by a reputable hospital or clinic. Here's one of the more time-efficient recipes for the soup.
Step 1
Pour the cans of condensed chicken noodle soup into the stockpot. Add two cans of water to dilute the soup, per the manufacturer's instructions.
Step 2
Chop or dice the raw vegetables. Add the vegetables and frozen green beans to the soup mixture in the stockpot.
Step 3
Bring the soup to a roiling boil for 10 minutes. Decrease heat. Simmer for 10 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.
Tips and Warnings
- One rumor associated with this soup is that it's fed to patients who need to lose weight before heart surgery, but this is only a rumor.
- Fad diets like the Sacred Heart Diet -- or whatever moniker it goes by -- aren't likely to give you permanent weight loss results. You might lose weight eating this soup, but most of it will be water weight. Pounds creep back on once you start eating your regular diet. Too much of this soup isn't exactly kind to your heart; a one-cup serving of the low-sodium chicken noodle soup alone has 429 mg sodium. The American Heart Association recommends that you get no more than 1,500 mg each day. High sodium intake can cause high blood pressure, which puts you at risk for heart disease and stroke.
Things You'll Need
- Large stockpot
- Two 11-oz. cans condensed, low sodium chicken noodle soup
- One 1-lb. package frozen green beans
- Two ribs celery, cleaned
- Four medium carrots, cleaned and peeled
- Four medium potatoes, cleaned and peeled
- Two small onions, outer layer removed
- One-half green bell pepper, washed, stem and seeds removed
References
- Everydiet.org: Sacred Heart Diet
- "Time"; The Four Day Diet Craze; Bill Tancer; January 2007
- MayoClinic.com: Sodium: Tame Your Salt Habit Now; March 2011
- Veg World; How to Cook Carrots; Moira Adams; December 2010
- USDA: National Nutrient Database
- NIDDK Weight-Control Information Network; Weight-Loss and Nutrition Myths; March 2009
